Your Call Cannot Be Completed as Dialed
by coonskin
Summary: "KITT, I must speak to Michael immediately." "No."


Devon hung up the phone, then punched up the direct scrambled link to KITT and waited for KITT to inform Michael of the call and connect the video monitor.

Instead of the usual few-seconds delay, there was silence, and the screen in front of him remained blank. Devon sighed and repeated the command. No response.

Finally, on his third attempt, KITT's voice replied, though the video screen was still blank. "Yes, Devon," KITT said.

Devon frowned. Was it his imagination, or did the AI's voice sound distinctly frosty at the moment? KITT was speaking softly, so it could just be that, but something was off here. "KITT, I must speak to Michael immediately."

"No."

The point-blank refusal left Devon flabbergasted for a moment. Regaining his voice, he said, "Why not? Is he not there?"

"He is here, but no, you may not speak to him immediately."

"Why on earth not? Enough of this, KITT; connect the call at once."

"No," KITT repeated.

Devon sighed. "KITT, I am giving you a direct order. Let me talk to Michael this instant."

"And I am disobeying it. I will not complete the call, at least not without more information."

Devon's exasperation was growing. "KITT, you are programmed to obey orders."

"From _him_, yes. I will admit that I normally do from you, as a courtesy, provided that they do not contradict his. But I have a higher programming than that, specifically protecting Michael, and that is why at the moment, I refuse to connect this call completely into the cabin without extensive additional information."

A ripple of worry ran across the exasperation. "Why? Is Michael all right?" Devon asked.

"He is asleep right now. He is totally exhausted, has several bruises, and is finally getting the rest that he needs for the first time in nearly two days. You, on the other hand, are presumably calling with yet another urgent mission. All of your missions are presented to him as urgent, Devon. Do you realize the statistical improbability of that being true? Nothing ever that could possibly wait a few hours for at least a little sleep? Your last call put him out on another mission back-to-back with the one before that, which was quite difficult, and we accepted and successfully completed that second mission, even though he was already tired and did not feel like it. I refuse to let you add a third back-to-back mission onto that string with no rest for him without screening it first."

"Now, KITT, I don't present everything as urgent," Devon defended himself.

"Yes, you do. You manipulate his compassion routinely, Devon, to try to engage his sympathies. You know exactly how to play him to gain his cooperation. And today, he needs the next few hours for himself more than any other case needs it from him. At least, that is my current assessment. If this is indeed an urgent case which cannot wait a few hours for a briefing, you are welcome to attempt to convince me of that, but I am not as easily manipulated on facts and sympathies as Michael is."

Devon sighed. "You are absolutely determined not to let me speak to him?"

"On current information, yes." KITT's voice, soft as it was, held no lack of determination. "What is your next 'urgent' assignment?"

Devon resigned himself to the inevitable. KITT wasn't going to give in. "There is a man named James Wilkinson who owns a business in Detroit. He has had several accidents at his business recently. The police are convinced they are purely accidents; he is convinced they are sabotage, though he isn't sure why or who wants him shut down. In the latest accident, an employee was seriously injured and is hospitalized. He asked for our help."

"A valid assignment," KITT granted. "However, Detroit is 450 miles from our present position. I will adjust course myself, and we should arrive in about eight hours. I will brief Michael when he wakes up. You do not require to talk to him at this moment."

Devon didn't bother pointing out that KITT could cover 450 miles in far less than eight hours. "All right, KITT," he said, a little annoyed. "Please have him call as soon as he wakes up so I can fill him in."

"I will do so," KITT replied. "At least, once he has had a good meal. Goodbye, Devon." The line went blank.

Devon sat there at his desk feeling annoyed, but gradually the wonder of it all overtook him. "Oh, Wilton," he said to the empty office. "It works. Your grand design, your programming, your concept for the Knight 2000 works. It's more successful than we ever imagined it could be."


End file.
